In the south the elderberry is almost ripe, just pray for calm weather over the next couple of weeks.

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Ok so I’m a bit lazy and prefer to do a quick response not a full one, as a result emojis aren’t available unless I create my own. So far I’ve sussed out the following,

: ) =  smile
; ) =  wink
: D =  grin
: P =  sticks tongue out
: ( =  sad 
: @ =  angry 
: heart : =  


These are pretty much my core responses and some I know but don’t use, do you know any others?

Has anyone ripened their tomatoes by not watering them, I have read that you can force tomatoes into ripening by stopping giving them water, has anyone tried this

I have grown these before but stopped as I found the flavour a bit of a cross between a pea and a broad bean. I don’t remember the variety.

I found a packet of 10 Heritage seeds Robinson which I’ve put into a tub so I can move it into the greenhouse later in the year. I’ve never grown this variety so don’t know how sweet they are but, for those that grow the purple varieties is there a really sweet variety?

For the past few months we've been distancing ourselves from others by 2 metres/6 feet in old money.  Its an "exclusion zone" that nobody else should enter.
What if it were an "inclusion zone" and within that zone there should be something edible or useful growing?

I've been testing it out, standing in random places around the garden and imagining this circle in which I am the centre.  The area vaguely known as "lawn" was the most difficult - I had to move towards the edges to be within reach of an apple tree or raspberries. I'll work on correcting that because I don't like to be beaten by my own rules.

Try it, I'll be interested in your results. 

This needs to be in the what made you happy thread & wildlife photos thread. So it can have it’s very own little corner here. 
I’ve not seen one of these beautiful moths for over 10 years. So I was delighted to spot one feeding on my Buddleia This afternoon. 

Even happier that I got a half descent photo of it.

   

    Plenty of blackberries around at the moment - picking some every day for breakfast.
These are in the wild hedge in the garden so I don't have to fend off any other pickers.
For most of the year I call these brambles and curse them because they're so scratchy - now I call them blackberries and welcome them.

           

Very pretty, worth growing in a pot/hanging basket in the flower garden - but I won't grow them in the veg garden again as they take the space of a normal Runner and, so far, don't seem to be very productive. The Beans are normal size - not dwarf ones.

       

I never uproot bean plants when they reach the end of the days - not just because they're supposed to have nitrogen nodules or summat on the roots but because they may regrow. 

This is a Gigantes bean and its 4 years old!! Every year it puts up new growth in spring and latches onto whatever it can find. I helped it with a cane this year and its now scrambling into an apricot tree.

I've also had success with Firestorm RBs and Broad beans. 
Worth a try!

    Today I saw a Scarce Swallowtail butterfly. Never seen one before although I have seen Swallowtails. This is not a picture of the one I actually saw as it was moving too fast.